Nicky who is from llanelli, but now residing in Toronto, is about to enter his first triathlon in two weeks time, and is asking if i have any tips or ideas to make sure he puts in a good performance.
A few simple ideas would go something like this
as its only 2 weeks away, it will be difficult to implement many of these
but heres some thoughts for the future!
first of all, try going to www.kerimckibbin.co.uk
then go to diet/food section on right hand side, this will give you lots of
ideas on what you should be eating, theres a ton of stuff on there!
go to the training section/workout section, theres a million things to do
with workouts there that you may find interesting and can apply to your
training.
when you train for triathlon, its important to find out quickly what you are
good at and what you’re not so good at.
for example, say you were a really good cyclist, but a really poor swimmer,
i would organise your training so that your cycling workout is always done
with your swimming workout.
What this means is that cycling doesnt take so much out of you, so you will
still have plenty of energy for the pool.
an obvious suggestion would be to cycle to the pool everytime you go for
your swim, and try to do things quickly, meaning you cycling flat out for
5-10k to pool, then change quickly and then do 500m in pool, time yourself
each time you cycle and each time you swim, then look to bring the times
down, this is a minimum 3 month process
when training at this same workout, you can do some “over-distance” work,
which means you start doing 15k bike rides there and back, and a 750m or
even a 1000m swim in between, this will take you more time but really get
your stamina and endurance up. Also next time you do your 10k bike ride
followed by 500m swim, you will find it a lot easier and your times will
come down a lot over the 12 week period.
So this workout could typically be on a sunday because it usually takes more
time and a thursday giving you a nice 72 hour break for recovery, you could
do the shorter workout on a thursday as you have less time, and the
over-distance work on a sunday when you have more time of course.
Then you come to running, and since its a sprint triathlon you are doing, i
would look at a series of options. As soon as your swimming comes up to
scratch, i would then switch your running with the swimming, and then
cycling with running, which for anyone who has ever done it, your legs feel
like jelly straight after you come off that bike, so getting used to this
feeling is absolutely essential, or you’re going to have a massive shock on
the day!!!
So for running, i think you have a 5k run at the end, so a variety of
training is neccessary.
I would start off seeing what you are running 5k in, the time i mean and
then we have a base figure to start with.
Then you need to get some sprints in on the hardest hill you can find,
measure out 30 yards on the worst part of the hill, and you’re going to do
10 sprints running forwards, then straight after that it will be 10 sprints
backwards, this is a killer workout but will improve your strength, speed
and stamina so lets give this a go.
then you have interval training, use lampposts which are usually 20-30 yards
apart. Jog for one post, then sprint the next, jog the next and then sprint
the next one and so on until you have to stop.
You will find this is very testing on your lung capacity and you wont last
long, but will simulate some of the issues you will have on the triathlon
when you’re totally out of breath and you dont think you have enough in the
tank!!!
Another way is again to over-distance it, if your final run is 5k, start
getting into a couple of 7k and 10k runs, next time you do the 5k you will
realise it wasnt so hard after all and you can concentrate on getting your
speed up, as you will have plenty in the tank.
Regarding your cycling, concentrate on technique and try and get lower on
the bike if you can, this will save seconds and minutes.
Also, when you are cycling, try and stick to a straight line, sounds obvious
but most people go from side to side instead of being strict with the
direction they are going, try to follow a line and concentrate hard.
Again hills on a bike will test you hard, im not sure if there are hills on
your course, but try to seek out the worst hills around, and attack them!
This will severely test your leg strength, endurance and power and ability
to stay the course.
Always make things hard for yourself in terms of training and things will
usually turn out far better on the day!!
So i would do
sunday-bike and swimming longer over distance work
monday-rest
tuesday-running workout
wednesday-weights/circuit style workout
Thursday-swim and cycle shorter distance
friday-rest
Saturday-weights/circuit training workout
As you get closer to the event, like now, have at least 3 goes of doing the
whole thing so its going to be run/swim/bike twice a week with again a 3 day
in between rest.
You still need to put some weights/strength work in there for all sorts of
reasons, but in the main, this type of workout will give you strength that
you wont develop from the other stuff alone, weight training is used in ALL
SPORTS now for athletic advantage, so lets give it a go.
Any questions, let me know and good luck!
Keri
—– Original Message —–
From: “Nicky Adams”
To: <keri.mckibbin@btinternet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 10:37 PM
Subject: Triathlon
> Hay Keri
>
> Just thought I’d message u about this whole triathlon thing, was just
> wondering if you could gimme any pointers, or ideas of ways to train, or
> even diets and things to eat, that type of thing, don’t go out of ur way
> too much, just thought I’d ask on a few ideas, anything will help, I
> should have asked earlier really, seeing as it’s in 2 weeks, but I have
> been training quite a lot anyway, but just ain’t had the chance, again
> though thank you, appreciate your time mate.
>
> Cheers Keri
>
> Speak to u soon
>
> Nicky
>
> Sent from my iPhone
